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CVE-2006-6164
The _dl_unsetenv function in loader.c in the ELF ld.so in OpenBSD 3.9 and 4.0 does not properly remove duplicate environment variables,…
- 7.2HighCVSS base score
- 0.33%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 74% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
The _dl_unsetenv function in loader.c in the ELF ld.so in OpenBSD 3.9 and 4.0 does not properly remove duplicate environment variables, which allows local users to pass dangerous variables such as LD_PRELOAD to loading processes, which might be leveraged to gain privileges.
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
- 1 day later
· 1 day later
Published
- 18 years later
· 18 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 2.0 | High7.2 | AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.33% · top 74% of all CVEs (12 Nov 2026)
Loading the EPSS history…
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.2.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
References9
- [3.9] 016: SECURITY FIX: November 19, 2006 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_OPENBSDx_transferred
- http://www.matasano.com/log/592/finger-79tcp-mcdonald-dowd-and-schuh-challenge-part-2/ (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- 20061123 Re: Lack of environment sanitization in the FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD dynamic loaders. (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_transferred
- 22993 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAx_transferred
- 21188 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDx_transferred
- [4.0] 005: SECURITY FIX: November 19, 2006 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_OPENBSDx_transferred
- 20061122 Lack of environment sanitization in the FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD dynamic loaders. (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_transferred
- 1017253 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_SECTRACKx_transferred
- openbsd-elf-privilege-escalation(30441) (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_XFx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2006-6147 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2006-6164)Record last updated .